There had been a lot of bottled-up frustration, pain and probably even a degree of shame through it all. Add a whole lot of sweat and enough hard-nosed character, and that pretty much covers the range of physical and emotional functions St. Anthony had to navigate to finally beat St. Patrick again.

After going nose-to-nose in the first half with its younger, less-talented opponent, St. Anthony eventually took advantage of its brilliant team speed and St. Patrick's foul trouble to pull off a 64-52 victory for the NJSIAA/ShopRite North Jersey, Non-Public B championship before nearly 7,000 last night at the Rutgers Athletic Center.

Rutgers-bound senior guard Mike Rosario scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half, including two big 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to help St. Anthony, ranked No. 1 in The Star-Ledger Top 20 and nationally by USA Today, pull away from a 30-30 deadlock and again establish itself as the class of the state.

"We knew it was going to be a grind-it-out game," St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley said. "We felt all along our experience in the backcourt would be a factor and that eventually our defense would put us in position to make plays."

St. Anthony, which had lost its past four meetings against No. 2 St. Patrick, will get a chance to make national history Saturday in the Non-Public B final when it faces Trenton Catholic of Hamilton at 4 p.m. at the Ritacco Center in Toms River.

St. Anthony is tied with Central High of Cheyenne, Wyo., for the most boys' basketball state titles with 24. In the process, it dethroned the king of the past two Tournament of Champions.

In the second half, St. Anthony looked much more like the team that had essentially coasted through its first 28 games with speed, depth and durability. Senior forward A.J. Rogers scored seven of his eight points and senior guard Jiovanny Fontan had five of his six to pace a 34-22 effort. After struggling to complete plays in the opening half, St. Anthony was able to put the finishing touches on its dribble penetration against its foul-depleted foe. And, of course, it supplied the type of menacing on-ball defense it has become famous for.

"I was just thinking about my defense at first, and that was the key for our whole team," Rosario said. "We wanted to get the defense going first. When my shots were coming, they were coming and I was hitting them."

Junior guard Dexter Strickland (18 points), charged with his third foul midway in the second quarter, had pulled St. Patrick to within 38-37 with a graceful drive with 4:50 left in the third quarter. But then Tyshawn Taylor connected inside off a feed by Fontan to spark a 7-2 run that would end the quarter and give St. Anthony a 47-39 advantage.

Earlier in that period, senior forward Quintrell Thomas -- St. Patrick's main rebounding force -- was whistled with his fourth foul and sent to the bench. It became open season in the lane for St. Anthony ball handlers.

"When he picked up the fourth foul, that opened up the driving lanes for them," St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle said. "When he wasn't available, they seemed to pick up energy going to the glass."

On their way to the glass, St. Anthony's guards also began to locate open shooters along the perimeter, such as the 6-3 Rosario. He nailed a 3-pointer with 5:30 to go in the game off a kickout by Fontan for a 53-41 lead, then buried another off a pass by Taylor for a 56-44 advantage with 3:53 to go.

By then, St. Anthony had established control of the game. Strickland had been hit with his fourth foul with 6:24 to go in the game and Thomas fouled out with just over two minutes to go.

Hurley could sense that the momentum had thoroughly shifted to his side for the first time since 2003. The long drought was not lost on the state's winningest all-time coach.

"This was a big relief for the elder Hurley and for the kids," Hurley said.

Rosario spoke for those kids rather descriptively.

"It was like we had a big cloud over our shoulders, and it got lifted with this," Rosario said.

The cloud certainly hung low and heavy in the first half. St. Patrick had played loose and aggressive basketball, completely unaffected by the presence of the beast that St. Anthony had become in the past year. An undefeated team with six signed Division 1 stars had left a trail of rubble in its wake.

Paris Bennett, who finished with 12 points, set St. Patrick's offense into motion with a putback to start the game. It not only opened the scoring, but set a tone of toughness that would be followed by senior forward Thomas (five of his seven rebounds) and Strickland. Thomas also had both of his blocks in the half, a talent that served the team early but probably hurt St. Patrick in the end.

"We feel he goes after a lot of shots, so we were going to go to the basket and see what happened," Hurley said.

Still, St. Patrick played the role of the aggressor early, while St. Anthony worked hard to hang with the Elizabeth team with its quickness and gritty defensive play. However, hanging tough isn't what St. Anthony was supposed to resort to this season. Not even against St. Patrick.

But in the end, St. Anthony simply had too much depth and talent in its backcourt for St. Patrick to handle.

"When you have a team with that many good guards and you fall behind, you're in trouble," Boyle said. "We had to try and scramble and press to get back in it. I've seen everybody in the country, and clearly St. Anthony and St. Benedict's are the best."